Winter's Hearts

Chapter 5

Instead of focusing on the happy memories of your childhood, your dumbass brain decided it was going to show you the second most awful day of your life. Thanks dumbass brain. You really needed more pain right now.

It was actually a bittersweet day. It was the day after you turned 100, and the first time you had to leave Loki. "You really have to leave?" Loki asked when you left your suite that morning, your travel pack in your hands. He looked so small and sad, a thin teen with short black hair.

"I don't want to anymore than you want me to," you reminded him softly.

"I could order them to let you stay, finish your training here," Loki suggested, hesitant. He didn't like using his royal privilege. Especially this time when you both knew it wouldn't work.

"Lohk, you know I have to go to the city of the Valkyrie and take the trials," you reminded him patiently. It wasn't any easier on you than him.

"I know, but a year? You've been training your entire life, how can the trials last a year?" he complained. He'd tried to research what the trials entailed, but they were a secret and he couldn't find out anything except that they were a year long.

"You know I don't know any more than you do," you had joined him for countless hours in the library trying to find out anything about what the next year of your life would contain. "I know it'll be hard, but it's only a year. I swear I'll write, and we can visit through illusions. It won't be that bad,"

"Kyrie, you're leaving me alone with the oaf and his annoying friends!" Loki whined. You laughed in reply.

"You'll be so busy you won't even have time to miss me. Your Father has said that he is adding boring court studies and how-to-rule lessons to your magic and fighting lessons. You'll be just as busy as I am," you reminded him.

"Darling, that will not make it any better. More lessons and no you to commiserate with?" he teased, but you saw the hurt in his eyes. He didn't want to lose his best friend for a whole year anymore than you wanted to leave him.

"We'll commiserate together over illusions," you promised. Your magics were both strong enough to make the reach. You sighed heavily. "It's almost dawn. I need to get down to the stables before Mother comes to find me,"

"I'll walk down with you," Loki jumped to offer. You walked in silence down toward the stables. Neither of you had words for how much this year was going to suck, or how to properly say goodbye. Loki stopped you before you had made it to the stables and turned you by the shoulders to face him. He was only a scant inch taller than you. You looked up into his sad green eyes. "I'm going to miss you, little Valkyrie," he told you as you dropped your pack to wrap your arms around his thin waist.

"I'm going to miss you too," you told him softly. You couldn't remember spending more than a couple days without seeing him, ever. The time you were both grounded to separate cells in the dungeons didn't count since you spent the entire time making funny faces to the other across the hall between the cells and writing messages in magic so the other could read them across the hall.

You don't know how long you stood there, just holding each other with tears in your eyes.

"Y/N! I know you're around here somewhere saying goodbye to the Prince, but we have to go!" You heard your mom's voice from the stables proper.

You sighed heavily and stepped out of Loki's arms, bending to pick your pack up again. You stood again to face Loki, to tell him one final goodbye. His cold fingers were suddenly under your chin, gently tilting your face up. "I do apologize for taking advantage of your hands being full, but I would prefer that you do not stab me for simply making sure you do not forget me while you are away," he said with a smirk.